Press



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' PRESS Dec. 27, 1938.

'piled Nov. 21, 1936 INVENTOR.

` \J D ATT NEY.

Patented Dec. 27, 1938 ZJLtS'? PATENT-erstes PRESS William Meier, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor toV The Midland Steel Products Company,-Clevelandg v Ohio, a corporation of Ohio.,

Application November 21, 1936, Serial No. 112,055 9 claims. (c1. vs -13) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in power presses and an object of the invention is to provide means to tilt the diesV with respect to the impact member rather than the usual practice of tilting the entire press with respect to the oor to accommodate irregularly shaped work pieces.

O ther objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawing forming Ya part ofthe description and wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the several views, l

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a riveting machine showing the riveting dies tilted at an angle to the vertical to rivet a portion of an automobile side rail,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front elevational View showing the riveting dies tilted at another angle with the vertical to rivet another portion of the automobile side rail, and.

rig. 3 is a perspective 'view of the riveting dies disposed in a vertical position.

Briey stated the purpose of the invention as herein shown is applied to riveting or welding automobile side rails which have kickups and therefor-are of irregular contour. In fabricating automobile frames numerous adjuncts, as for example spring hangers, are secured to the side rails in the region of the kickups.

It has been the practice to provide two riveting machines `for the kickup of each side rail, that is, a riveting machine to handle the rear incline of 1 the kickup and another machine for the front inoline of the kickup. v Each of these machines were bodily tilted at a fixed angle with relation to the floor to accommodate the curve in the kickup whereby the spring hangers and other ad- ;juncts and the adjacent side rail could be disposed at right angles to the riveting or welding dies.

My invention provides a machine having'means for tilting the dies to different angles with respect to the vertical, to weld or to head a rivet in any portion of the kickup, to thereby eliminate the employment of a great number of riveting machines.

In the embodiment of the invention herein de scribed the numeral iii designates a press frame inwhich is journaled a shaft I I provided with a pulley I2 connected to a suitable source of power supply. Connected to the shaft il is the usual clutch mechanism, not shown, operated through a rod i3 controlled by a clutch pedal it to start and stop the press. v

The shaft El has a cam or crank i5 connected to a link I8 adjustably connected by meansof a bolt I9 to an impact member or plunger 2t, This impact member has a tongue and groove sliding connection 2| with guides 22p mounted on the frame lll,ithese guides defining a xed path for the reciprocating movement of the impact member 25., y Journaled in the frame I0 is a stout shaft 26 5 for supporting a die bed or platform 25. This shaft extends rearwardly of the frame lll and supports a counter-balance 2i which when in vertical position holds a base 36 of the platform 25 in normal horizontal position. On this base 3i) is suitably mounted a lower V-die or riveting anvil 3i adapted to accommodate the head of a rivet,v and is further provided with an overhanging portion 32 which receives a reciprocable ram or upper die 33 also adapted to accommodate one end of a rivet. Disposed inthe overhanging head 32Vare spring pressed detents, not shown,

Vfor releasably'holding the riveting ram 33 in elevated or retracted position. The riveting ram 33 is manually raised and lowered with respect to the lower die 3l by'means of a handle 35 which ismanipulated to cause the spring pressed detents, not shown,A to releasably support the upper die 33.

The extreme upper end 36 of the riveting ram 33 is curved for engagement with an arcuate surface 3l of the impact member 2@ whereby, irrespective of the tilt of the upper die 33 with respect tothe vertical axis of the impact member 2i), the arcuate surface 3l will strike the end 35 of the upper die 33 and move the latter toward the lower die 3l to head a rivet 39 or perform a Welding operation therebetween.

The platform 25 is tilted to different angles with respect to the impact member 20 about its axis 26 by means of operator operated tilting mechanism disposed beneath the platform 25. This mechanism comprises an inverted T-shaped lever il fulcrumed at 43 and having lever arms 4i and 42, and an upstanding lever arm'fid'pro- Y vided with a ball shaped end 45 loosely received in a socket 46 formed in a lug mounted to thev underside of the platform base 30. In order to oscillate the lever 40 a pair of foot treadles E@ and 5i are provided and respectively engage the 45 lever arms Il! and 42 and are pivoted as indicated at 52 to a bracket 53 bolted to the frame it. A pair of bolts 5G and 55 are adjustably threaded a in the bracket 53 for engagement with a lug 5G depending from the die platform base 30 to limit 50 the degree of tilting of the aligned dies 3| and 33 with respect to the impact member 2l). t

In operation, assume it is desired to head the rivet 39 at the rear end 60 of the kickup 6I of the side rail 62. The operator presses the foot treadle to swing the die platform 25 clockwise about its shaft 26 until the lug 56 strikes the adjustable stop to the position shown in Fig. -1. In this position'the upper and lower dies are at right angles to the rear end 6l) of the kickup and zontal.

in alignment with the rivet 39, which will be the proper riveting position to accommodate the downward incline of the rear end 60 of the kickup without the necessity vof tilting :and manuvering the heavy auto frame to this relation with the press. In other words, the dies must be tilted to substantially the same angle as that made between the rear end of the kickup and the horie This angle of tilt may be altered by adjusting the screw 54. Y

The operator then manipulates the trip handle 35 to release the upper die 33 and allow it to drop and rest upon the rivet 39 `las shown in Fig. 1. In order to head the rivet 39 the operator exerts pressure on the clutch pedal I4 whereby the'cam shaft -Il rotates and causes the impact member to descend and the `arcuate surface 31 .thereof strikes the end 3B of the upper vdie 33 to force the latter against the rivet 39 and head the sam-e. Upon `the upstroke `of the cam shaft il I the impact member 2U is raised and the operator grasps the handle 3.5 and raises the upperdie 33-.wth respect to the overhanging head .3,2 until the detents therein enga-ge the upper die 33 and hold the latter Iin raisedposition.

When it is desired to head a rivet 65 disposed toward the ,front .end 66 of the kickup 6l, the operator exerts pressure on the foot pedal 5I Vto swingrthe die platform counter-clockwise about the shaft26 until the lug 56 abuts the adjustable stop 55 :to the position shown in Fig. 2. In this position the upper andlower dies are tilted to an angle that is substantially equal to the angle made between the front end 6.6 kof the kickup 6l and the horizontal. 'I'he rivet .65 is then headed in the same manner heretofore described in connection with the rivet V39.

If the work 4to be riveted is disposed in a horizontal plane, the die bed 25 is allowed to return to its normal vertical position shown in Fig. 3, and is held in this position by the counter-balance 21.

This apparatus may, vfor example, also be employed as -a punch or welding press, vpunch dies or welding dies being substituted for the riveting dies, accordingly it will be understood that various changes in the construction and arrangement of the parts may be resorted to without departing Vfrom the scope .of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In a power press, an oscillatable die bed, a pair of relatively movable dies ycarried by said bed vfor accommodating work therebetween, impact means operable to strike one of said dies to effect relative movement `between saiddies to operate on said work, and means for tilting said die bed to different angles w-ith respect to said impact means.

2. In a power press, an oscillatable ydie bed, a lower die and -an upper die movable with respect to `said lower die carried by said bed, power operated impact means separate from said upper die and operable to strike the latter and move the same toward said lower die, and means for supporting said dies and operable to tilt said dies together asa unit at an angle to said impact means.

3. In a power press, a lower die, an upper die manually movable to initial operative position with respect to said lower die, power operated impact means having lan arcuate striking surface for striking said upper -die to move the latter from initial operative position to final operative posi-Y tion with respect to said lower die, and means for supporting said dies and operable to tilt said dies to different angles with respect to'said impact means, said arcuate striking surface being contoured to strike said upper 'die in all angular positions of said dies.

4. In a power press, an oscillatable die bed, a pair of relatively movable dies carried by said bed, an impact member reciprocable in a fixed path for striking one of said dies to eiect relative movement therebetween, and means for tilting said die bed to different angles with respect to said reciprocable impact member.

`5. In a riveting machine, a frame, a die supporting bed journaled in said frame, a riveting anvil carried by said bed, a reciprocable riveting ram carried by said bed and cooperating with said anvil to head a rivet therebetween, an impact Vmember reciprocable in a fixed path for striking said ramrto head the rivet, and `means for tilting said bed, anvil and ram to different angles with respect to said reciprocable impact member.

6. In a power press, an oscillatably mounted die bed, a pair of vrelatively movable dies carried by said die bed for accommodating Work therebetween, power operated means for moving one of said dies toward the other to operate on the work therebetween, and means for tilting said die bed to different angles with respect to the vertical, comprising lever means engageable with said die bed, and .operator operated means for operating said lever means to tilt the latter and thus said die bed and dies to an angle with respect to the vertical to accommodate work inclined to the horizontal.

7. In a power press, an oscillatably mounted die bed, a pair of relatively movable dies carried by said die bed for accommodating work therebetween, power operated means for moving one of said dies toward the other to operate on the work therebetween, and means for tilting said die bed to different angles with respect to the vertical, comprising lever means engageable with said die bed, and operator Voperated means for operating said lever means to'tilt the latter and thus said die bed and dies to an angle with respect to the vertical to accommodate work inclined to the horizontal, and means for determining the angleof tilt of said die bed and dies with respect to the vertical.

8. In a power press, -an oscillatory die bed, a pair of relatively movable dies carried by said bed for accommodating work therebetween, means Y for moving one of said dies toward the other to operate upon the Work, means for tilting said die bed to` diilerent angles. with respect to the vertical, comprising an'inverted T-shaped lever having its stem engageable with said die bed, and a pair of treadles fulcrumed to lie across the arms of the inverted T-shaped lever for swinging said die bed and dies to an angle with respect to the vertical.

9. In a power press, a frame, a horizontal shaft journaled therein and having a counter-weight attached thereto, an oscillatory die bed secured to the shaft tohang vertically pendant therefrom to normally overbalance the counterweight and being adjustable to angular positions to either Side Aof the vertical position, upper and lower relatively movable dies carried by the adjustable die bed for receiving work therebetween, and impact means carried by the frame and movable in a xed path to strike the upper die in all angular positions thereof. Y

. WILLIAM MEIER. 

